Atacama & Puna - High Deserts

How to Prepare

How should you prepare for my workshops?

Bring your portable computer loaded with your software to work on. We do not provide computers/monitors. In special cases, on a very limited basis, we may be able to provide equipment for you. We are able to provide the latest version of Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom for your use during the week. We provide all printers and media - Epson. If you have a special kind of paper or substrate you wish to use, bring it.

Bring removable media. You'll save valuable time if you bring your own portable hardrive. We also provide CDs and DVDs.

Bring your images. We can look at images in any form: prints, reproductions, electronic slideshows, websites. Prints or individual electronic files that can be browsed in Adobe Bridge are ideal for portfolio reviews.

Bring a camera. The single biggest mistake I make is not bringing my camera with me everywhere I go. You're bound to find something beautiful during our time together, so be ready to make images at a moment's notice.

Bring something to take notes with. For some a computer keyboard is enough. Some like pen and paper. Others like audio recorders.

Write down a clear statement of what you hope to accomplish during the workshop.

Write a well defined set of questions you need answers to.

Read resources relevant to your needs provided in my online Library.

Optionally, read the first section (Input to Output) of my book Adobe Photoshop Master Class. Give some consideration to the second (Translating Tradition) and third (Compositing for Classicists) sections. Browse the fourth (Alterations), fifth (Atmospheric Effects), and sixth (Montage) sections for ideas.

In coming to a workshop, you're setting out on a journey. Make the most of it by taking some time to reflect on what you are about to do before you leave and what you have done when you return. Joseph Dispenza's book The Way of the Traveler has excellent food for thought.

Expect to meet interesting peers, share similar passions, and see things from new perspectives.

Come with an open mind.

My hope is that the workshop will exceed your expectations.

This is a Digital Photo Destinations workshop. Caponigro Arts & D-65 discounts do not apply.

Prepare to be amazed by Argentina’s majestic Atacama and Puna high deserts of surrounded by ancient volcanic craters, lava fields, cinder cones, salt flats, and white dunes. From the tall white stone towers of The Pumice Stone Fields, to the clay canyons of The Red Labyrinth, to the crystal-crusted playas of Dead Man Salt Flat, Laguna Verde and Salinas Grandes. (It’s like Death Valley - on steroids.) The surrounding mountains collect billowing clouds that shed rain, which rarely hits the ground because the air is so dry. It’s all transformed by dramatic shifts in light and temperature, several times a day. Night brings an entirely new dimension as the clearest skies on the planet offer dazzling celestial displays, which is why we’ll have special night photography sessions. It’s a landscape few people know and fewer still have visited; it will feel like we have it all to ourselves. Join us and you’ll think you’ve gone to another planet. (NASA and Hollywood both use it to simulate Mars.) It’s got to be seen to be believed.

This is more than a photo tour, this is a workshop! This is a unique opportunity (for no more than 12 people, with a 1 to 6 participant/leader ratio) to visit one of the most amazing places on this planet led by world-renowned photographers - John Paul Caponigro and Seth Resnick. We work closely with our exceptional local guides (some of the best we’ve ever worked with offering unparalleled customer service) who have an intimate knowledge of the area, to shoot in the most beautiful places at the best times. Most importantly, we’ll work closely with you to help you make the most of your personal adventure. We’ll help you energize your creative life and find new depth for your artistic vision. You’ll benefit tremendously from our guidance, advice, lectures, demonstrations and reviews. Creativity, composition, exposure, workflow, and post-processing are just a few of the topics presented. You’ll learn a tremendous amount from us during one-on-one reviews and from the other participants during group reviews. Together we’ll help you take your photography to the next level. World-class locations, world-class photographers, and world-class guidance. How could it get better? How about starting and finishing your trip with world-class Argentinian beef and wine?

The Itinerary

Day 1 - Salta - Cafayate We first drive south from Salta through the Calchaquies Valleys, with its dramatic rock formations eroded into wild shapes such as in the Quebrada de las Conchas and Cafayate. We finally arrive at the Altalaluna Hotel Wine & SPA (www.altalaluna.com) for the night in Tolombon. Wine lovers can taste the fantastic world-class wines produced in this region.

Day 2 - Cafayate - Pumice Stone Field We climb to the high altitude deserts. This is one of the highlights of our trip. The Pumice stone field is approximately one hour away from our hotel, across a beautiful valley that requires some challenging driving. The field is about 55,000 square miles and lies in the heart of the Puna. It represents the largest Pumice stone concentration in the world, with some stones reaching 60-feet tall, surrounded by black sand from a volcanic eruption. Near the Pumice Stone Field we’ll visit giant white sand dunes under a blue sky. We will explore the north and south regions of the field as well as the Volcano of Carachi Pampa. Finally we will visit some huge white sand dunes that require skilled 4WD. The dunes are a few hundred feet tall and were originated by erosion of the pumice stones nearby. We’ll spend the night at the Hosteria de Altura El Peñon.

Day 3 - Sunrise & Sunset & Night in Pumice Stone Field

We return to the incredible rock formations, now under entirely different light - dawn and dusk with special low light an night photography sessions.

Day 4 - Dead Man Salt Flat - Sunset in Red Labyrinth

This is a fantastic day, with lots of great locations for photography. We leave El Peñon and head north towards San Antonio de los Cobres. We drive through a few oasis filled with llamas and vicuñas. We arrive at the Dead Salt Flat and the Red Labyrinth Desert with good light. Salt flats are very photogenic and this one is no exception. The Red Labyrinth is a vast region of eroded deep red rock. Simply incredible out-of this-planet place. Another of the many highlights of the trip.

Day 6 - Sunrise Red Labyrinth – Sunset Salinas Grandes Leaving the fascinating Red Labyrinth after dawn, we wind our way through more marvelous landscape to finally reach Salinas Grandes at sunset, one of the most incredible salt flats we’ll encounter, with its geometrically carved turquoise pools. We spend our last night in the Puna at La Comarca Hotel in the colorful town of Purmamarca.

Day 7 - Sunrise Salinas Grandes - Salta We return to Salinas Grandes salt flats for an encore at dawn - under entirely different but equally beautiful light. Final reviews and a great dinner in Salta round out our amazing adventure.

Day 8 - Salta - Fly Home Participants return from Salta airport. If this is your second DPD workshop, you're invited to join us for a special alumni day! Join us on our fabulous adventure!

Getting Here - Cushing, Maine

Airports

Portland and Bangor airports are both serviced by major airlines. JetBlue now offers economical flights in and out of Portland. Daily commercial air service is also available to Knox County Regional Airport, located in Owls head just outside of Rockland. Portland and Bangor feature limousine and shuttle-van service, and taxi service is available at Knox County Regional Airport. All three airports have rental cars available.

Rental Cars

Driving Directions to Midcoast Maine

From Portland, ME Take I-295 north to Exit 28 (Bath/Brunswick Coastal Route 1). Follow U.S. Route 1 north to Thomaston. Rockland is four miles farther north. For directions to our studio in Cushing please refer to Directions to Caponigro Arts from Thomaston.

From Bangor, ME Take I-395 west to U.S.-202 west via Exit 2 toward Hampden. US-202 becomes Western Ave. Take to U.S.Route 1A south to Route 1 in Rockland.

From Boston, MA Take I-95 north into Maine, to I-295, Exit 44 or 52 in Portland. Follow directions above from Portland.

From Manchester, NH Take I-93 to Route 101 East, then I-95 north towards Portsmouth. Take I-295 at Exit 44 towards South Portland. Follow directions above from Portland.

Driving Directions to Caponigro Arts from Thomaston, Maine

Take Coastal Route 1 to Thomaston.

FROM THOMASTON CENTER: Turn LEFT on Wadsworth Street (Prison Store on corner). From points South, turn RIGHT on Wadsworth Street.

Go over the GREEN BRIDGE. This is BROOKLYN HEIGHTS ROAD which turns into RIVER ROAD.

Follow RIVER ROAD for approx. 5 miles. You'll see Broad Cove (the water) on your left, and pass FALES STORE on your right. Ahead of you the road forks: left or straight.

Maine Accommodations

Students stay in local bed and breakfasts, inns, hotels, motels and rental cottages, all within 20 minutes of our studio in Cushing. The Hampton Inn in Thomaston (15 minutes north) is the areas newest hotel and quite convenient to both Cushing and Rockland. Rockland is the largest town in the area offering a variety of restaurants, stores, and theaters. Rockport's inns often overlook the water and are only 5 minutes north of Rockland on Route 1. These are good choices for those who prefer motel accommodations to B&Bs, although you will need to drive into Rockland or Camden for breakfast and dinner. Waldoboro (15 mins south), Friendship (10 minutes south - a working harbor that is particularly scenic), South Thomaston (15 minutes north), and Clark Island (15 minutes north) offer B&B accommodations in a more rural setting.

Below is a list of recommended local establishments, with closest proximity to the studio listed first.

Maine Destinations

The Maine coast is extraordinarily beautiful. Here are a few highlights you may wish to consider visiting. Caponigro Arts is located in midcoast Maine making many destinations accessible. See Studio for more details.

Some of the largest and most scenic sand beaches buffer the marsh at Popham. The surf and tideline are mesmerizing. Two rivers, one small and slow below, and one large and strong above, flank these sandy shores. At low tide, you can wade to a nearby island.

Reid State Park

A grand overview allow you to survey the nearby river as it plunges in the tidal zone, tall evergreen forests atop rocky ledges, and the long sandy beach that stretches south towards distant islands. A large marsh, full of cattails, separates two entrances to the shore, linked by the beach.

Pemaquid Point

Pemaquid Light presides over dramatic slabs of granite that crash down to the tumbling shoreline. Islands drift on the far horizon, nearly lost in the great Atlantic Ocean. Clouds drift by endlessly.

Long Cove Quarry

It looks like an abandoned sculpture garden. Three large pools of water are nested, below towering cliffs, amid piles of rubble. Large blocks rise out amid a flurry of small chips lumbering and lurching from point to point. A walk along the rim provides many bird's-eye-views.

Hewitt's Island

The rocky shores of the Maine islands are quite extraordinary. A walk around Hewitt's Island at low tide provides views out across the Atlantic Ocean to the distant horizon, dow into the emerald depths of the Penobscott Bay, and over the sensuous granite undulations of the shoreline where the two meet. You'll find surprises at every turn.

Rockland Breakwater

Huge masses of cut stone form a path one mile long that reaches out into the Rockland harbor to the Rockland light. In no time at all, you'll find you've walked out into the water. The mood is as changeable as the weather and light.

Fernald's Neck

A walk along the shoreline of Lake Meguniticook at Fernalds Neck is also a walk through towering cathedral woods. The view across beds of pine needles clustered with fern, under lush canopies, and out to the waters beyond is idyllic. Occasionally, slabs of granite allow you to hop a short way out into the lake.

Mount Desert Island

Acadia National Park offers some of the richest and most abundant shores along the Maine coast. At Thunder Hole, the tide crashes across large surf worn stones, into tall cliffs, and through dark blow-oles. At Sand Beach, a lazy river winds its way across dunes out toward nearby islands. Further on, high overlooks provide grand views of the surf below and the far shores beyond.